The Funeral
by HermioneSparta
Summary: Just a short, three page story on a funeral. It came to me while I was in the car. Oh, it's not mine!


**The Funeral**

**by HermioneSparta**

The chilly wind whipped cloaks and robes around. The trees bent to the unseen force, surrendering the last of their leaves to the beginning of winter.

Hermione stared at the ground as her lover was buried. Twenty years they'd been together. They had first gotten together a few years after the Final Battle; she was working at the Transfiguration Mistress at Hogwarts. She remembered it like it was yesterday, the day they became friends...

[-]

_Snape watched Hermione as she walked down the hall. "Well, look who has returned."_

_"Hello Professor," she said calmly as she turned around. Smiling at the wizard, she crossed her arms._

_He was shocked. She'd changed. She didn't look like the know-it-all girl he'd taught for seven years._

_"Are you all right Miss Granger?" he asked as she swayed. She waved off the question and placed a hand on the wall, rubbing her knuckles hard into her sternum in the process._

_"Yes, quiet all right," she said with a small smile. The Final Battle hadn't been nice. They'd lost so many; Flitwick, Pomfrey, McGonagall, all of the Weaslys save Ginny, and many others._

_"Are you still suffering from it?"_

_"It's all right Professor." At twenty-three, Hermione Granger had a few grey hairs, but was still the brightest witch of her age. She was a Mistress in Potions and Transfiguration, with a minor degree in DADA and Herbology._

_Severus Snape frowned, his smirk dying in his eyes. He, Hermione, Harry, Dumbledore and Shaklebolt had been the ones to get hit with the worst curses from Voldemort before he died; it was a miracle Dumbledore lived._

_"Professor, I really must begin grading tests," Hermione said, snapping him from his thoughts. She smiled and turned away. He gently grabbed her elbow before she took more than a few steps. When she looked at him once more, she saw something unnameable in his eyes._

_"Come. I've got something that may help." She nodded and let herself be led to the dungeons._

[-]

Hermione sniffed and felt Ginny put an arm around her. She tried to remain calm, but it was to much of an effort. She broke down in sobs on the former redhead.

"It'll be all right." Ginny whispered.

"I loved him Gin. With all my heart. What am I going to do now?"

"You're going to do what Severus would have wanted. He'd be furious if he knew you'd wasted away because of this."

"I'm only alive because of him. I'll surly die now." Hermione looked at the dark sky, seeing it was going to rain soon.

"I doubt it. You didn't die your binding night." Ginny tried to coax and smile from Hermione, but it was unless. She though back to the night she and Severus had been bound...

[-]

_Severus slammed the door shut and it warded on it's own. He returned to kissing the breath from his bride._

_"SSevvvverusssss," she moaned, arching into him. She looked at him with hard, hot eyes. His black eyes reflected the passion that burned in hers. He picked her up with one sweep of his arms and carried her to the bedroom. After laying her on the bed, they shared their hottest, most intense kiss yet. Both pulled away, panting._

_"Are you sure?" he asked after a pause. She nodded, biting her lip slightly. Everything became a blur of cloth and whispers until a hiss of pain snaked from between her clenched teeth at their rushed union._

_"Sev-verus," she hiccuped. He gently wiped a tear away from her face and placed a kiss on her lips._

_"It'll be all right dearest, I promise." She believed him._

[-]

"Ginny, please, go find Harry. I want to be alone." Hermione looked at the newly covered grave, tears welling once more. Ginny nodded and went to find her husband, walking awkwardly as her pregnant stomach weighted her down. Hermione Snape looked at the gravestone of her husband. He'd been killed in a duel with Lucius Malfoy. The rouge Death Eater had managed to escape Azkaban and had attacked the couple in Hogsmead.

Hermione had taken Severus back to the school, but there was nothing anyone could do; her husband was going to die, and she made sure he didn't die alone. She looked at the smaller grave just feet away. Their daughter, Anastasia, had died at two months old. Later examination showed she'd died from the Wizarding word's version of cancer, and no one had thought to look for it when the baby had fallen ill weeks before her death.

Hermione looked back to the fresh grave. Only the deceased Albus knew when they'd done in their binding ceremony. Should one off them die, the other would follow within three months; they'd both agreed on the ritual. Albus had attempted to change their minds, but it wasn't possible. There was only two ways the ritual could be broken: both consented for it to be undone, which was dangerous, or one committed suicide, which instantly broke the magical and universal laws holding them bound.

She sighed, knowing she had to get her affairs in order. As Headmistress of Hogwarts, that meant a lot. She knew Harry would take the position.

The witch rubbed her chest. Now at forty-five, her head had more than a few gray hairs, and the curse she'd been hit with in the Final Battle had begun taking it's toll. Even worse was the medical potions stopped having effects less then a year before. Her lungs and heart were hurting most of the time, but it flared up more then occasionally. The organs stopped for a few seconds every few weeks, resulting in panic and near death frequently.

Her dead husband of sixty-nine had tried to keep her comfortable, but both knew it wasn't possible.

With another sigh, she looked at the sky and smiled. Soon, she'd see her husband and child once more, free of the pain. She looked at towards the place where Harry and Ginny were waiting before placing her hand on the gravestone.

"With all my heart, I know my dearest shall wait for me. Just a little while longer, my love. We shall be reunited soon." She smiled and made her way towards the couple, not seeing the shimmer in the air above the grave, right next to where she'd been standing. A smaller shimmer appeared.

"We shall wait dear heart." The spirit looked down at the child clutching it's hand. "And we shall be a family once more." With those words, Severus took his daughter in his arms as she disappeared. The little girl watched her mother walk away, but not away from them. She knew she'd soon be with them...

[-]

[-]

THE END

AN: I was in the car when this popped into my head. I hope you all like it, and it pulled a few tears. I considered putting the death scene for Hermione in, but thought better. Tell me what you think please.


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